When you receive your personalised ‘Future Quest’ from the future machine, you receive a story about the planet – the story that appears will depend on where you turned the dial (either on the actual Future Machine or using the Future Machine mobile app) that has the options for global, local, Arctic, Antarctic on it.
These news stories about the current state of planet Earth are based on the latest news and scientific climate data interpreted by Dr John King (Senior Scientist, British Antarctic Survey) in collaboration with artist/researcher Dr Rachel Jacobs who are in conversation about how to present environmental risk and uncertainty, and in a practical sense scientific climate data in ways that engage people in meaningful ways. One of the approaches they are exploring is how the data can inform a poetic description of the ‘news from the planet’.
John sent this poem as Spring arrived after a cold winter (in 2021) influenced by a warming Arctic pushing freezing temperatures as far South as Texas.
Thaw
Over the land freckled with snow half-thawed
The speculating rooks at their nests cawed
And saw from elm-tops, delicate as flowers of grass,
What we below could not see, Winter pass.
Edward Thomas